Glastonbury Festival traces history from 1970 farm event to global scale

The Glastonbury Festival traces its origins to September 19, 1970, when farmer Michael Eavis organized the Pilton Pop, Folk & Blues Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. The inaugural event drew between 1,500 and 2,500 attendees, many of whom were hippies, with entry tickets costing one pound and including fresh milk from the farm.

While Eavis had initially hoped for a larger turnout, the festival featured performances by Marc Bolan and T. Rex. The event also included a minute of silence for guitarist Jimi Hendrix, who had passed away just one day prior.

Over the past five decades, the festival has expanded from a small local gathering into one of the world’s largest musical events, occupying approximately 900 acres with around 80 stages and nearly 3,000 performers. The organization is currently led by Eavis’s daughter, Emily Eavis. For the 2025 edition, organizers have decided to slightly reduce total ticket capacity following attendee feedback regarding overcrowding and movement difficulties during the 2024 event.